Christian Bale won't be Batman in 'Justice League' movie

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Christian Bale officially opted out of playing Batman in the 'Justice League' movie

Bale said he would only reprise the role if Christopher Nolan directed the film

"The Dark Knight" screenwriter said the new Batman would be a rebooted character

We already knew that Christian Bale probably wasn't going to show up as Batman in the upcoming Justice League movie, the Avengers-style supergroup of DC heroes. First, Bale said that he wouldn't do another Batman movie unless Nolan opted for a fourth Dark Knight chapter, which Nolan says isn't happening. Then 'Man of Steel' and 'Dark Knight' screenwriter David S. Goyer confirmed that the Justice League's Batman would be a rebooted character. So that pretty much closed the book.

Still, with news like this, sometimes you just have to hear it from the man himself.

"We were incredibly fortunate to get to make three [Batman films]. That's enough. Let's not get greedy," says Bale, who called EW to promote his upcoming revenge drama 'Out of the Furnace' (in theaters Nov. 27). "Chris [Nolan] always said he wanted to make it one film at a time. And we ended up sitting there looking at each other, saying 'We're about to make the third.' We never really knew if we were going to get to be there, but if that was how it was going to be, this was where it should end as well."

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The actor says he hasn't even been involved in official talks about a Justice League movie. "I have no information, no knowledge about anything. I've literally not had a conversation with a living soul. I understand that they may be making a Justice League movie, that's it." But he says he's not sad to pass Batman's cowl into new hands: "It's a torch that should be handed from one actor to another. So I enjoy looking forward to what somebody else will come up with."